7 Minute Alexander #14, le Violon / Violin (with English subtitles)

So you can release your knees. Yes, super! Yes, that allows something to circulate better. I felt it right away. when you told me to think of a spiral Something opened up… and it goes in a spiral? yes, upwards. And you can use this release to sit down. Exactly. Yes, you just did it. Ah! Yes… do you see what I mean? Yes, I’m doing this [with my pelvis]. Wow! How have I been sitting down my whole life?! Incredible. And I’m so aware of my backbone now. This feeling is very interesting. It’s very comfortable. I feel as if there’s air inside. Ah, voilà. I don’t think my shoulder blades have ever moved like that. Our arms are stuck like this [when we play the violin] But we forget that everything is linked. I give violin lessons and I tell my students, you have to move the arms. we focus on the arms all the way to the instrument. But we forget that the arms are attached to the back. yes, every part of the body is linked. That’s awesome! No, don’t help me [with the movement]… It’ll be more clear for you if you don’t help me. Yes, that’s good. That’s very good. It’s like I’m another person. It’s like I have two bodies. The feeling is incredible! It’s remarkable. I feel a lot of space inside. And my arms feel longer. The sensation is totally different. I feel my shoulder blades moving. I feel something sinking down… …but something flowing upwards too. often we think we need to be anchored to play, but we don’t think of this second [upward] sensation. and the freedom of, the connection to… the shoulder-blades. But look, you are tensing all this. When you play low notes you have less of this problem. But when you play high notes, suddenly, there’s this sense of struggle. But tell yourself, there’s not much difference; it’s just one string over. I’m not going to let the high notes worry me. And it’s the quality of my movement that’s the most important thing for me. That’s good. It’s beautiful. And now with the high notes, I’m beginning to hear the harmonics. And whenever I try to control, force, or crush the note, there are fewer harmonics coming out. And I’m aware of my body, and I’m aware of the instrument at the same time. Just now there were high notes that just flowed out effortlessly… but for a few other you were still forcing a bit… But afterwards you correct yourself. It seems like you realize what you’re doing now. There’s something else I noticed… Strictly speaking, the violin can stay in place, and it’s the bow that moves. But since you are moving both the violin and the bow, sometimes the bow slips around. And when it slips, the sound becomes less present. I’m going to hold your violin! I’m going to hold it like this. I’m holding it, very lightly. see, it’s very, very stable now. now the bow is sticking to the string. so just imagine that I’m still holding your violin. magnificent! Thank you! Thank you for the secret… the secret of violin-playing.